UK Butterflies

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Comma Aberrations

This page provides access to all named aberrations of a given species and Goodson & Read (1969) is a key resource in this regard.

Introduction

Description to be completed.

Unclassified Photos


All Aberrations

Natural History Museum
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ab. nov

This section contains those aberrations that are considered new, and have yet to be formally defined.

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ab. dilutus (Frohawk.Vars.Brit.Butts.1938.pl.103.f.1.)

The ground colour white.

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ab. intermedia (Newnham.Lep.Church.Stretton.1900.p.125.)

The ground colour very light fulvous, the spots small and few in number.

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ab. neole (Oliver.Entom.1937.70.p.10.)

The ground colour of a rather dark shade of mahogany, much darker than the type form, but not dusky or blackish.

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ab. implumis (Watkins.Entom.1942.75.p.202.)

On the upperside the wings have a smoky slightly iridescent suffusion with an impression of thin scaling, which is caused by the scales being rolled up. Similar to the dull, thinly scaled forms of A. urticae [Aglais urticae, Small Tortoiseshell] and V. io [Vanessa io] [syn. Aglais io, Peacock].

Natural History Museum
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ab. obscura (Closs.Int.Ent.Z.1916.9.p.115.)

The upperside is darkened, with broad dark marginal bands on both wings without the yellow marginal spots.

Natural History Museum
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ab. nubilata (Lempke.Tijdschr.Ent.1956.99.p.198.)

On the upperside of the forewings the second costal spot from the base is connected with the spot near the inner margin by a dark suffusion.

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ab. nigrolunaria (Nitsche.Verh.zool.-bot.Ges.Wien.1912.62.p.110.)

On the upperside the normal marginal yellow lunules are replaced by black ones.

Natural History Museum
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ab. pictior (Verity.Ent.Rec.1919.31.p.200.)

The black pattern of the upperside much extended. The external precostal spots quite black and some additional black spots in the hind portion of the forewings, also the pre-marginal lunules and bands are black instead of chestnut. Verity says this is the North European form, but it appears to be only an aberration.

Natural History Museum
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ab. j-album (Spuler.Schmett.Eur.1901.1.p.19.)

The black pattern of the upperside often unites with the border and on the underside the C mark is elongated or drawn out. Spuler names two forms in one here. By the name he is referring to the underside but links this with an aberrant upperside. The description is too vague to be of use. Blachier named the form in which the C mark is drawn out into a J or L and it would be better to use his name of imperfecta for the underside form.

Natural History Museum
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ab. f-album (Esper.Eur.Schmett.1785.1.2.p.168.pl.XXXVII.f.1.)

The figure is of a most curiously marked aberration and is not of the form with fused costal spots as most authors seem to have decided. The forewings upperside shows the normally doubled basal spot as one black square spot. The two large black costal spots are only indicated by small black spots on the extreme edge of the costa and slightly below these there is an oblong black blotch, separated from the small costal spots by a strip of ground colour. The central inner-marginal spot is joined to the other inner-marginal spot and therefore stretches towards the tornus. The margins are black with tooth-like wedges radiating inwards and taking in the twin discal spots. The hindwings have a large triangular black patch from the costa to below the centre, caused by the linking up of the spots in this area. The tails are black with a small portion of the margins on either side of them also black, leaving a band of ground colour between this black and the triangular black patch mentioned above. On the underside the forewings show long black radiations at the margin and a median band of black spots, which are united towards the costa. The hindwings with an area of black in the upper half from near the base down to the tail in the form of three long rays, two of them not reaching the margin. The C mark is in the form of an F placed sideways.

Natural History Museum
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ab. sagitta-album (Frohawk.Vars.Brit.Butts.1938.pp.102-103.pl.24.figs.2-3.)

On the upperside of the forewings the marginal band is broken up into teeth-like wedges radiating inwards as far as the twin discal spots, which therefore cannot be seen. Above their normal position are two small black spots, which are directly beneath the upper black costal spot. Hindwings dusky-brown, except for some normal ground colour at the apex, which is cut by heavily-outlined black veins. The underside is of the hutchinsoni form, yellowish, and the markings of the hindwings suffused with no distinct pattern except for a large white pear-shaped white spot, which replaces the normal C mark.

Natural History Museum
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ab. reichstettensis (Fettig.)

= reichenstettensis Ruhl.Pal.Grossschmett.1893.p.373.

On the upperside of the forewings only the two basal spots are normal. All the margins are broadly dusted black, especially on the inner margin from whence this black dusting reaches the centre of the discus in the form of a black triangular blotch. Hindwings even more heavily dusted with black so that only a small streak of normal ground colour remains at the base and on the fringes. Gaede in Seitz.Macrolep.Suppl.1.p.344 says the correct name for this form is reichstettensis Fettig but gives no reference. This description is taken from that of Ruhl.

Natural History Museum
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ab. suffusa (Frohawk.Vars.Brit.Butts.1938.p.103.pl.24.f.4.)

On the upperside of the forewings the two upper black costal spots are united into one oblong blotch. In the centre of the margin there are two tooth-like wedges, which reach and envelop the twin discal spots, which therefore cannot be seen. Hindwings with the basal half black, leaving a broad marginal band of normal ground colour, which is divided by, well-blackened veins giving a radiated appearance. The tail, and a small area of the margin on either side of it, black. The basal black area is not so black as the triangular blotch, which stretches from the costa almost to the anal angle. The colouring of the figure is peculiar, purplish-brown, but since it is the same specimen as that figured in Frohawk's Bri.Butts.pl.21, which is of normal ground colour, the colour must not be taken into any account.

Natural History Museum
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ab. cloqueti (Clement.Bull.Soc.Ent.Fr.1917.p.125.fig.)

A melanic form and certainly different from the figure of Esper's f-album. The forewings upperside shows the normal basal spot and the two upper costal spots fused together into one oblong blotch. The inner-marginal spots are fused together with another well-developed black spot above them, also fused, and together forming a black triangle. The twin discal spots are also faintly fused and unite with the black costal blotch on its outer side, and from the outer side connect with the triangular black blotch above the inner margin. Hindwings with a black triangular area from the costa downwards to just before the anal angle, leaving a wide margin of light ground colour in which the veins stand out well blackened, giving a radiated appearance. The tail is light, with no dark edging.

Natural History Museum
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ab. elongana (Cabeau.Lamb.1926.26.p.4.)

The outline of the forewings extremely scalloped, the main projection measuring 56mm across the wings, and the concavity only 40mm. The hindwings normal.

Natural History Museum
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ab. pusilla (Stichel.Seitz.Macrolep.1909.1.p.207.)

Small dwarfed specimens.

Natural History Museum
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ab. gilvomacula (Meves.Ent.Tidskr.1914.35.p.4.)

On the upperside of the forewings there are white-yellow angulated spots; the largest and lightest in the middle of cell 1b, and another near the outer margin, and a further one in cell 2, also near the outer margin. From the German on p.38.

Natural History Museum
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ab. castanea (Verity.Farf.Diurn.It.1950.4.p.346.pl.52.f.23.)

An underside form of ab. [form] hutchinsoni in which the wings are chestnut to ochreous-yellow.

Natural History Museum
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ab. nigracastanea (Verity.Farf.Diurn.It.1950.4.p.346.pl.52.f.23.)

A form of ab. [form] hutchinsoni in which the underside is chestnut or fulvous with the markings blackish and contrasting with the rest.

Natural History Museum
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ab. obscurior (Failla.Nat.Sic.(1887-88)1888.7.p.69.)

A dark underside form found in the autumn. This would appear to be merely the type [typical] form in contrast to the ab [form].hutchinsoni in which case it becomes merely a synonym of c-album Linnaeus.

Natural History Museum
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ab. carbonaria (Verity.Ent.Rec.1916.28.p.100.)

Verity says that the Linnaean type had the underside markings very dark, nearly black with a lighter ground colour. A very distinct female form however occurs commonly in England, as well as other parts of Europe, with the underside uniformly black and with a shiny surface, the pattern scarcely detectable, this is carbonaria. Later in Farf.Diurn.It.1950.4.p.346, he says the name can also apply to males although these have the pattern distinct.

Natural History Museum
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ab. variegata (Tutt.Brit.Butts.1896.p.346.)

The underside dark marbled, the green often predominating.

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ab. c-extinctum (Gillmer.Int.Ent.Z.1907.1.p.88.)

Specimens without the white C on the underside. Gillmer says these have been bred but not caught wild.

Natural History Museum
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ab. extincta (Rebel.Verh.zool.-bot.Ges.Wien.1920.70.p.12.figs.5-6.)

The white C of the underside almost completely absent. Transitional to ab. c-extinctum Gillmer by the description but the figure shows no trace of the C.

Natural History Museum
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ab. iota-album (Newnham.Ent.Rec.1894.5.p.12.)

The white C of the underside reduced to a mere straight line.

Natural History Museum
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ab. i-album (Tutt.Brit.Butts.1896.p.346.)

= uncipuncta H.Joseph.Verh.zool.-bot.Ges.Wien.1919.69.p.57.
= i-album Masjowicz.Polsk.Pismo.Ent.1923.2.p.126.fig.3.

The white C of the underside in the form of an inverted letter i. Joseph's uncipuncta had a poorly marked [C] on the underside divided into two parts, the upper ending in a hook, the lower merely a spot, the pattern agreeing with the North American P. interrogationis [Polygonia interrogationis, Question Mark]. The i-album of Masjowicz is presumably the same as Tutt's but the original description has not been seen [Goodson & Read].

Natural History Museum
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ab. imperfecta (Blachier.Ann.Soc.Ent.Fr.1908.77.p.214.)

The white C of the underside reduced to a mark more like the shape of an L or a J, the bottom part being rounded.

Natural History Museum
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ab. o-album (Tutt.Brit.Butts.1896.p.346.)

= o-album Newnham.Entom.1917.50.p.230.

The white C of the underside replaced by an O.

Natural History Museum
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ab. delta-album (H.Joseph.Verh.zool.-bot.Ges.Wien.1919.69.p.57.figs.1-2.)

The C mark of the underside in the form of a crooked ill-formed triangular figure, similar to Delta [?], the Greek capital D.

Natural History Museum
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ab. g-album (Tutt.Brit.Butts.1896.p.346.)

The C mark of the underside replaced by a G.

Natural History Museum
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ab. subtusalbinotata (Caruel.Rev.France.Lep.1947.XI.p.132.)

Named from the figure in Esper.Eur.Schmett.1.pl.LXI fig.3 which shows the normal white C mark on the underside but in addition a white mark above it, similar to the C but somewhat smaller. It is situated near the costa. Still another white mark in the form of a dot is seen slightly nearer the margin. Caruel's figure is said to represent Esper's figure but it completely misses the main character, the white markings, no trace of these showing.

Natural History Museum
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ab. p-album (Bezsilla.Folia.Ent.Hung.1943.8.p.69.fig.)

No description.

Natural History Museum
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